Last evening I did something actually fun and interesting. Something different from representing mostly hapless clients caught up in the grind of criminal court. I was lucky enough to host an Author Talk with a brilliant and funny novelist who was smart enough to walk away from a prestigious-school law degree and do exactly what made him happiest in life.
Adam Roberts, whose newest book Food Person is the hilariously sweet send-up of the celebrity cookbook craze, joined my by ZOOM for an author talk at Happy Medium Books in Jacksonville. I have always been fascinated by Adam’s impressive choice to abandon what could have been a lucrative career in “the law” to go to NYU’s Tisch graduate school for an MFA in creative writing. (Full disclosure: Adam is the nephew of long-time Jacksonville attorney Mark Rosenblum.) Fascinated, of course, because who among us lawyers working in the human misery of criminal court and mental health court has not wanted to quit and write the Great American Novel?
Well, Adam Roberts, you did it! Good on you, and great happiness for you in this path forged by Food Person—reviews in both People and The Wall Street Journal, and “packaging” for a movie “shop!” I applaud your decision and cheer you on—and don’t forget that you promised us “early adapters” there at the tiny book talk that we would be invited the the movie premier.
Readers, take this opportunity to do something enjoyable and light hearted enough to make you genuinely happy—read Food Person. It will make you smile. It will lighten up that grim misery of daily court appearances. It will make you excited to wait for Adam’s next book about a lawyer who really wants to be a chef. Mangia!
Teri, you are excellent at speaking with authors and drawing them out about their work and the practical side of the craft. And this advice, to do something fun, is so necessary in these dark days. We need solidarity to get through our present situation and that solidarity is built by both working together and playing together. Thank you for your part in a lovely evening.